While Ava was originally baptized on January 4th at UIHC in the NICU, we recently had her "reaffirmation" for family on March 21st. Despite crying through the whole thing and finally being put on a "time out" in her bouncer, the day went well and many relatives were able to see her for the first time. Here are some pics of the day. (Much better than the snap shots of her naked in the NICU.)
Recently, while trying to entertain a curious and ever learning baby I've found myself seeking new and exciting ways to either stimulate, sooth, or otherwise distract Ava. While reading is at the top of her list of favorite things (especially Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton), she's recently developed a fondness for Radiohead. Radiohead? Really? Not of course the sleepy baby channel on Pandora, but Radiohead. In particular the In Rainbows CD and more particularly Nude or Reckoner. Can I tell you how excited this makes me? See, babies really do hear while in utero. All my music playing paid off. Take THAT classical music. Next...Pete Yorn?
Yesterday I was looking at my calendar and was writing in on the appropriate days when Ava would be 4 months, 5 months etc and came to the realization that these "months" do not necessarily match up with actual months of the calendar. Obvious, I know, but not realized until now nonetheless. So, since I'm not sure what the appropriate time frame for "months old" is, I'm going to start posting her significant "month milestones" as weeks. Anyone who can shed light on the subject, feel free to comment. So, 12 weeks. A lot has been accomplished in such a short period of time. Ava is holding up her head all on her own when sitting upright. She has moderate trunk control but still topples over when sitting unassisted. She loves to grab at toys and can shake her toys that make noise (although I suspect it's simply because it's within her reach and not due to the noise factor...yet). Her tummy skills are improving and she's doing mini-pushups. Looking into a mirror helps her achieve this. Her cooing is so vocal that she often carries on one sided conversation with her giraffe for at least 45 minutes at a time. She "stands" when agitated and not wanting to be held. Her fists are her best friends and are forever in her mouth (and if something is within her grasp and able to be pulled to her mouth it will inevitably end up soggy). She smiles at everyone who talks and/or smiles at her. She sleeps at night from 8pm until 8am with a sleep feeding at around 5 am. And although I'm sure there are other important things I've forgotten, these are the main things that come to mind.
In case you missed it, The President happened to stop through Iowa City today to say hi, even Ava was watching...
Even with the soggy weather this past week, much progress has been made on the house. All three floors are now framed, and windows are scheduled to be going in sometime this week, as well as the electric walkthrough. Ava continues to change every day, and we can't help but be smitten with her ever changing expressions and sounds.
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Somewhere around the 2 month mark it became apparent that Ava was reaching a new milestone. The art of diaper-filling, clothes-ruining super-poops. This morning I was in bed with her (and no I do not believe in co-sleeping...I was just trying to shut my eyes while she played with her fists) when suddenly the bed shook from the propulsion of poop out of Ava's butt. This of course was followed by her usual UGH. At the time, however, I though it was simply gas so I did nothing about it. She continued to play and I continued to "rest my eyes." Some time later I picked her up to feed her. Whether it was my picking her up that caused the spreading, or if it happened while on the bed I can't be sure. All I know is that the longer I held her while feeding her, the warmer and wetter my arm became. After her feast I carried her into her bedroom to survey the damage. Not only did it leak out the top of the diaper, but spread so far up her back that it coated the chest strap she wears at her nipple line for her EKG monitor. (Luckily she was wearing the strap as I'm sure it would have ended up in her hair.) Needless to say we both had a bath
To date we've ruined 3 onesies, 4 sleepers (one more sleeper than onesie as one poop went down her leg) 2 car seat explosions, 1 bouncer disaster, and a total bed change of MY sheets. Not to mention the numerous poop showers she's given Chris while he's changing her diapers
For now I think I'll coat myself in cellophane and call it good.
This weekend we actually began to feel like winter was on it's way out. . . for good. With highs in the upper 40's on saturday, and a ten-day forecast that called for highs in the same range, we were starting to feel good again. It seems like every year it becomes easier to imagine relocating to a temperate climate, if only it were that easy.
At any rate, we celebrated our good fortune by stopping by to see our ever-evolving house-to-be. By week's end the first floor was being constructed, and it became easy to imagine yourself walking through the different spaces of the downstairs. It's always amazing how little there appears to be to a house, structurally speaking, yet somehow when everything is finished it feels so much more imposing and solid.
Ava didn't seem too excited though, and decided to make the trip short-lived by crying lividly in the back seat of the car. We took her back home so she could hang out with her friends Mr. Monkey and Mrs. Giraffe.
When mentioning to friends and family that I was attempting to let Ava "cry it out" it was brought to my attention that Modern Family touched upon this during a recent episode. Although I thought I had watched all the episodes online (since we don't get ABC on our crappy converter box) I somehow missed this hilarious episode. It's 20 minutes long but totally on base for how hard it is to let your baby cry. Thanks Susan!
Given my previous post regarding troubles in babyland, I thought I should post some of my favorite things about Ava...
1. Her rooster hairdo (currently trying to decide if it wants to turn red or not).
2. The hair on her shoulders.
3. How she smiles and coos at me when she's eating.
4. The way she sucks on her fists with her "kitty licks."
5. Her half smile (just like Dad's).
6. The sounds she makes when she's pooping. (grunting followed by UGH)
7. How she crosses her hands on her chest when eating.
8. The way she snuggles into my shoulder.
9. At night when she's supposed to be falling asleep on my chest, she'll look up at me and pucker her lips and stare.
10. The way she adoring looks at Mr. Monkey while playing.
11. Her smiles and cooing
12. Bath time shivers
13. The roll of her eyes as soon as she starts eating and/or is given the Binky
14. When she whimpers in her sleep (Chris thinks she's having nightmares about being smothered by a boob).
15. The open mouthed head thrusting she does as soon as I lift my shirt. Hilarious!
16. Marching man arms when she's angry.
17. How she startles herself when she burps, almost like "where in the hell did that come from?"
18. Her furrowed eyebrows that seem to always be present.
19. How furious she gets with tummy time
20. The way she plays in her bassinet and talks to herself until I come into her line of vision and say
"good morning." The look she gets is a cross between excitement and "oh there you are" puzzlement.
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| The (in)famous Mr. Monkey |
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| Life is good |
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| The furrowed brow... |
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| Giving love to Mr. Monkey |
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| Half smile |
While Ava has pretty much been the center of every waking (and sleeping) minute of our lives lately, we've also been hard at work on putting together a place to call home in our spare time. And as the grip of winter slowly diminishes here in Iowa (it was a balmy 36 degrees for a high today), it has allowed for a window of opportunity for physical work to begin on our future home. Every day after work, Chris drives by the lot, to see if much has changed, but due to all the snow we've had recently, not much could take place. Not anymore. It's great to finally see some progress beginning after all the planning that has taken place the past few months.
At this point the walls of the foundation have been poured, and the base should be going in tomorrow (weather permitting). We've been told that if all things stay on schedule, framing should begin by mid-week. So there is much change, albeit very positive, in our lives right now. We're very blessed, and most of all, Ava can't control her excitement for the house to be finished either. We're just happy that this will hopefully be our last move for a good while.
We'll keep everyone up to date on the progress.
Have you ever paid attention to the word verification that is asked prior to posting a comment? Of course there are only a handful of people who actually do this so I'm talking to a select few of you. Today while visiting my sister Tiffany's site I entered a comment regarding her drain problem in her shower. I then move down the comment section to enter the word verification and it's FLATIO! No joke. 100% serious. More often than not it's a nonsense word or a jumble of letters but this was actually a somewhat word and a somewhat risque one at that. (ok, so it's not the TRUE spelling of the word I'm talking about, but phonetically it works.) Way to go google! You've got my attention now. I'm going to start leaving messages on every site we follow just so I can see what word they'll use next for their verification. I challenge you to follow suit as well. Happy commenting!
When imagining life as a parent I often thought that the first month would be the hardest. Negating the first week of life spent in the ICU, Ava has been surprisingly easy. Eating well, sleeping at least 5 hours a night, and overall a joy.
Until week 5.
Suddenly a monster was unleashed from the soft folds of baby cuteness. Suddenly feeding has become a chore. After an overproduction problem produced explosive frothy green stools and frequent choking upon latching on I finally investigated and corrected the problem. Now that she's no longer having to choose between air or food you'd think the problem would be fixed. No, she still "fights" me to eat. Often pulling off after a few seconds of sucking only to frantically search out her food source again. This is accompanied by her kicking me and pushing at me with her hands as if I'm trying to smother her (true to some extent). Finally she'll give up and give in but not before exhausting us both. (Maybe this is why she sleeps so well at night.)
Sleep has become another problem. No, not sleeping at night...during the day. Naps have become obsolete. Unless of course I'm holding her. Which, if she had her way I would do all the time. On some days she totals no more than 45 minutes of "nap" time. But then I question the logic of forcing naps. Are her no nap escapades the reason why she sleeps so well at night (last night she slept 9 hours and had to be woke up at 6am)? Do I REALLY need to enforce them? The answer is probably yes. So, I called a friend whose has been through this with 2 children (Tina) and asked advice. The answer...let her cry and she'll tire herself out. So yesterday I wholeheartedly took up that challenge and the result...30 minute nap following 45 minutes of such horrible crying I thought she'd be hoarse today. (Now, I didn't let her cry the entire time of course, I DID go in and pick her up every 15 minutes and consoled her.) The remainder of the day resulted in her screaming her head off EVERY time I put her down whether it was in her crib, on her play mat or to change her diaper. So now I'm thinking I'm not conditioning her to go to sleep on her own, I'm conditioning her to think she's being left every time I lay her down. Needless to say there were no more naps for the rest of the day. Today however, another story. She cried for 15 minutes, was consoled and was asleep in another 5. Success? Probably not...I'm blaming it on the tylenol and the fact that she was immunized today.
Vomiting has become another issue. We're not just talking about a little spit up. Rather, more like something out of Polterguist. Not only am I puked on daily, but my comforter has been ruined, the chair cover in the livingroom is stained and lets just say I'm glad the carpeting hides stains well. Yet, the pediatrician says this is normal. Go figure.
And last but not least, eczema. After arguing with dial-a-nurse over eczema vs. baby acne my conclusion of eczema was validated today by her doctor. Fortunately we have a lot of cute pics pre-eczema because she now looks like a burn victim. Her entire neck, upper chest, upper back, scalp and now her face are covered with the red rash of eczema. Not to mention she's likely to rub herself bald on the back of her head from itching herself against her collar, me or anything else that touches her for that matter. So, now I get to slather her with numerous creams as well as some sparingly applied hydrocortisone cream. Oh, and of course I have to keep her as clean as possible in that region so all that vomit is only adding to the problem.
So now I ask, when can I get a break? She cries when she spits up, cries when she's put down, cries because she itches, cries because she doesn't want to nap. But, at least she sleeps at night...
